Two critics debate a rare rehashing of a revised ‘Macbeth,’ singing witches and allFolger Theatre is trying something different — staging a bastardized, Restoration-era version of “Macbeth” with music that was first performed in 1664 and was popular for 150 years — so we thought we’d try something novel, too. Anne Midgette, The… Sep 12 18September 12, 2018Article at Washington Post
A jazzed-up ‘Carmen’ goes where Carmens have gone beforeGeorges Bizet’s “Carmen” has proved one of the most adaptable works in the operatic canon; I’ve seen flamenco “Carmens,” stripped-down “Carmens,” even “Carmen” on ice. On Saturday night, “Carmen: An Afro-Cuban Jazz Musical” arrived at the Olney… Feb 15 16February 15, 2016Article at Washington Post
Into the woods of musicals’ sounds: Two critics on what sings on stage and screenThe impending opening of “Into the Woods” prompted music critic Anne Midgette and theater critic Nelson Pressley to compare notes on their very different takes on the last major movie of a Sondheim musical, Tim Burton’s “Sweeney Todd,” and on what… Dec 19 14December 19, 2014Article at Washington Post
Streep sings Sondheim, and finds her voiceNEW YORK — Meryl Streep sings. Her fans know this. Meryl Streep sang in “Postcards From the Edge,” in “Ironweed,” on the children’s album “Philadelphia Chickens” and, of course, in “Mamma Mia,” the movie that improbably, given all the successes in… Dec 19 14December 19, 2014Article at Washington Post
Two Hot Directors: Rebellious to a PointTHE singers sit in front of a curtained stage, each at his own Formica table, as if waiting for a performance. Warming up, they produce fragments of arias that blend into a cacophony of half-heard sound. The M.C.'s, brandishing their mikes, clarify… May 10 98May 10, 1998Article at New York Times
